‘When God Made the World’ by Matthew Paul Turner and illustrated by Gillian Gamble

“Among the stars and the planets and cosmic dust, God made a place for the story of us.”

Lyrical verse, warm evocative illustration, and creative narrative describe this new book by Matthew Paul Turner. What’s great about this picture book is the fresh perspective it offers about how all of us fit into the creation story. The dedication is in memory of Rachel Held Evans, a beloved and well respected young Christian writer who died from complications of the flu last year. When God Made the World has been endorsed and promoted by people like Amy Grant, Ann Voskamp, and Shauna Niequist.

In this book there are directives to help save and protect the planet, “Save a whale, hug a tree, protect every bee. Recycle, repurpose, reject apathy.” Included in passages that impart the wonder of creation and the diversity of humanity, are cute little phrases like: a warning against touching poison ivy and a reminder to drink more water in hot weather. The book ends on an open-ended note by saying that creation was just the beginning and how we live and how we love tells God’s story too! Children can glimpse the divine and celebrate the complexity of our world, but also think about the fact that they too are an intentional part of God’s very big story.